Alex walked past Eleada, Kendra, and Nathan as though they didn’t exist, his entire focus suddenly on the carousel.
“Hey,” Nathan said, shouting at Alex as he strode past. “We said we’ll go with you.”
“Does that carousel ever shut down?” Alex asked, still staring at the spinning metal unicorns, griffins, and dragons.
“It’s broken,” Elaeda said. “Melvin says if he lets it stop, he won’t be able to get it going again.”
“And does it always spin that fast?” Alex said, still walking toward the carousel, the others following behind. “Clark, can you smell any magic from the carousel?”
Clark stretched his legs to catch up with Alex. “Hmm, I can’t smell anything at this distance. Not with all this rain. Let me get closer.” Clark broke into a puddle-splashing jog and ran to the carousel.
“What does this have to do with Leanna and the others?’ Nathan asked, placing a hand on Alex’s shoulder to get his attention.
“It’ll make finding them easier,” Alex said, staring up at Nathan.
“Oh, yes,” Victoria said as she walked up beside Alex. “I see what you’re thinking.”
“Ah, definitely some kind of magic working in the carousel,” Clark said, still sniffing at the whirling metal ride. “The rotation creates some kind of magical cloak. I never would have noticed if I wasn’t looking for it.”
“We’re wasting time,” Nathan said, stamping a hoof into the mud.
“If what you said is true, we need to be tracking Esmeralda,” Eleada said, stepping over to stand beside Nathan. “Not playing with a carnival ride.”
“The carousel is what’s been causing the weather to be so strange,” Victoria said, turning to face Nathan.
“That’s insane,” Nathan said with a shake of his head.
“No more insane than the things we usually see happen,” Rafael said, leaning to sniff at the spinning carousel.
“We have to shut it down,” Alex said, shrugging off Nathan’s grip on his shoulder and walking toward the large, metal control lever at the side of the rotating ride.
“Can’t let you do that,” Melvin the minotaur said as he stepped from the rain-filled shadows at the back of the carousel to stand between Alex and the control lever.
“Get out of the way, you bullheaded bully,” Daphne said, stomping through the mud to stand in front of Alex.
“Melvin,” Eleada said, looking up at the big, bull-man beast. “What are you doing?”
“What I need to do,” Melvin said, glaring down at Alex and the others. “Now run along, children. I don’t want to have to hurt you.” Melvin growled menacingly as lighting filled the sky. Beowulf snarled and stepped between the minotaur and the others.
“You won’t hurt us,” Nina said as she calmly walked past Alex to stand next to Beowulf. “You’re more bull than man, and animals like me, and because you’re mostly an animal, you like me, too, and you won’t hurt us because you’re feeling like you want to take a nap, because that’s what bulls do in the rain, they takes naps, because the sound of the water is so soothing, and it makes them so sleepy, like its making you so sleepy, your eyelids are drooping and your head is nodding and you just want to lie down right now and take a nap, right there under that awning out of the rain because it’s so nice and dry and such a nice place to take a nap.”
Melvin the minotaur blinked as though mesmerized by Nina’s words and stumbled back under the tent awning beside the carousel, slowly sitting down and leaning on his side, curling up to sleep with one massive hand beneath his head.
“We should probably tie him up before that wears off,” Nina said, turning around to the others.
“Hmm, good idea,” Clark said, grabbing a long rope from the back of the small tent.
“Knots,” Ben said, jumping to help Clark bind Melvin. “I’m good at knots. I’ll give you a hand.”
“That, Little Sister, was stupidly dangerous and impressive,” Alex said, throwing his arm around Nina and grinning. He had never seen her use her magical affinity with animals so effectively.
“Do I get to count that as my test for membership to the Guild?” Nina asked, her eyes bright and mischievous.
“As long as you promise never use that magic on me while I’m in animal form,” Rafael said with a laugh.
“What is the point of all this?” Nathan asked, frowning as he stepped up beside Alex.
“Watch,” Alex said, reaching over and yanking at the large lever beside the carousel control panel. The lever wobbled, but otherwise did not move.
Victoria placed her hand around Alex’s and they gave the lever another yank. With Victoria’s considerable strength added to his own, the lever easily slammed into the off position. As the lever fell into place, the carousel immediately began to slow, the rapid rotation of the ride gradually decreasing, as did the intensity of the storm. The carousel came to a halt, the wind and rain, although still blowing and falling in copious quantities, began to lessen. Alex looked to Nathan and smiled.
“Zeus’s thunderbolts,” Daphne said, blinking away raindrops as she looked up at the sky.
“I still don’t see what this has to do with finding Leanna,” Nathan said, glancing at the clouds and then back at Alex.
“They’ll be easier to track without all the rain,” Kendra said, watching as the carousel slowed to a stop.
“Even I couldn’t track them in this much rain,” Eleada said, shaking the collected water off her hat.
“That’s what Beowulf is for,” Alex said, nodding toward the beagle. “But first, we need something of Esmeralda’s. Come on. I’ll explain.”
Clark and Ben applied the final knots to the ropes binding Melvin the minotaur and then ran to join Alex and the others slopping through the muddy lane. As they sprinted toward the back of the main tent, Alex tried briefly, and succinctly, to explain what they knew about Esmeraldas plans — from her poisoning of Leanna and the other carnies’ soul-essences, to the theft of Victoria’s father’s Wall Walking Belt, and the robbery of something small from the bank vaults. They rounded the back of the giant tent and came to a stop outside the wagon Alex knew belonged to Esmeralda and Mr. Apollo.
“I still can’t believe Esmeralda would do the things you’ve described,” Nathan said. “She and Mr. Apollo have always been so nice to me.”
“You’d believe it if she’d tried to kill you,” Alex said.
“What do we need from their sleeping wagon?” Eleada asked. “A piece of clothing or something?”
“I have something more personal in mind,” Alex said as he stepped up to the door. “Clark, can you sniff out any traps?”
“Mmm, sure,” Clark said, climbing up the back steps of the wagon and slowly opening the door.
“Careful, Clark,” Daphne said. “Who knows what they might have left behind?”
Clark disappeared into the cabin of the wagon. A few seconds later, he popped his head back out into the rain. “All clear.”
Alex leapt up the steps to join Clark in the wagon. It was nice to be out of the rain, if only for a moment. It wasn’t coming down nearly as hard, but it still sounded like an avalanche of water striking the wagon’s tin roof. Alex paused a moment to let his eyes adjust to the darkness within the sleeping wagon. The dim, gray light shining through the windows glittered faintly in the gems of Esmeralda’s necklace, hanging around the neck of a dressing mannequin in the corner of the room.
Alex walked over to stand before the necklace. He reached out with his magic-sense, but could feel nothing. He wasn’t surprised. The necklace must mask its magic or everyone who met Esmeralda would have sensed it. Then a notion occurred to Alex.
He let his vision change to see the astral aspect of the world and the necklace suddenly blazed like a string of miniature yellow-blue suns. Alex nodded to himself. That was why no one could sense the magic of the necklace. It used astral energy to create the astral barrier. That made sense. Only a Spirit Mage could sense or use the magic of the ne
cklace.
Now that he was looking closely at the necklace with his astral eyes, Alex could see the magical energy it emitted and how it functioned. It pulled astral energy into it like a sponge absorbing water, then used that same energy, altering its nature, to create a barrier that this very same astral energy could not function within. It was like using someone’s motion to spin him around and send him in the opposite direction.
Alex looked at the necklace more carefully, trying to figure out how to make it stop its magic. Making a magical device function usually involved speaking a rune-word related to the type of magic involved. To end the magic, one usually spoke the opposite rune-word. For a glow-wand one would say the rune-word for light and then darkness.
Having no better ideas, Alex said aloud the rune-word for open, guessing that the necklace might be activated by the word close. To Alex’s surprise, the gemstones of the necklace quickly dulled and became dark. Alex let his vision slip back to normal and raised the necklace over the head of the mannequin.
“Ah, open what?” Clark asked, referring to Alex’s rune-word intonation.
“Nothing,” Alex said, turning to his friend. “This necklace is what Esmeralda was using to create the astral barrier.”
“Ah, open for off,” Clark said, nodding in understanding.
“Exactly,” Alex said. “Now let’s see if Beowulf can get a scent from this. Esmeralda’s been wearing it for days.”
Outside again in the rain, Alex held the necklace up for Beowulf to smell. As the beagle sniffed at the ancient magical artifact, Alex explained to the others what it was and what it did.
“She’s worn that for years,” Kendra said, squinting at the necklace.
“Ever since she came back to the carnival and married Mr. Apollo,” Eleada added, bending down to sniff at the necklace along with Beowulf.
“I guess that’s who Madam Fortuna meant,” Alex said, scratching Beowulf behind his floppy ears.
“Woof,” Beowulf said, wriggling around in the mud and barking again as he pointed his nose to the southeast of town.
“He’s got the scent,” Nina said, looking in the direction Beowulf’s nose pointed.
“So that’s what he does when he has the scent,” Rafael with a snort. “All that napping he did was for show.”
“Great lot of gorping good it will do us,” Daphne said, folding her arms across her chest. “Without our bikes, we’ll never catch up to Esmeralda and the evil carnies.”
“Let’s not call them evil carnies,” Kendra said with a worried frown.
“They’re our friends,” Nathan added in anxious agreement.
“Hmm, how about temporarily evil?” Clark said, his voice soft and apologetic.
“Birds,” Ben said, looking to the cloud-darkened sky. “Maybe Rafa and Kendra could turn into birds and carry Beowulf to where they are and then come back for us.”
“That’s even worse than Alex’s ideas,” Rafael said, staring incredulously at Ben.
“Besides, Beowulf is too heavy, remember?” Victoria said, looking down at the magical beagle as he barked again.
“Heavy,” Ben said, smacking his forehead. “I forgot.”
“We need to get moving,” Alex said, standing up and starting to trudge through the mud. “We don’t have any choice. We’ll never catch them if we don’t.”
“We’ll catch them, alright,” Eleada said, raising her arm and pointing over Alex’s shoulder.
Alex turned around and saw a large truck with high wooden railings wrapping around the flatbed at the back. He smiled.
“What?” Nathan said as he and the others followed Alex’s gaze.
“We’re going to steal a truck,” Alex said with a laugh.
“And I’m driving,” Eleada said, her laugh even more wild than Alex’s.
Chapter 22: The Silent Swamp
The rusted Dodge pickup truck bounced along the old dirt lane running along the edge of the fields behind the Millberry family’s dairy farm, north of the Silent Swamp. Eleada sat in the driver’s seat, hands gripping the big steering wheel. She drove with a reckless abandon that made it clear motor vehicles were normally never entrusted to her care.
Nina sat beside her, holding on to Beowulf, who had his head out the window, long ears flapping in the wind, barking and pointing his nose toward the Silent Swamp. The truck tilted to the passenger side because of Beowulf’s enormous weight, and Eleada struggled to compensate and keep the truck from veering off into the ditch.
Alex stood in the back of the truck with everyone else. They all held tight to the wooden railing slats, hoping they wouldn’t be thrown from the truck bed with the impact of the next gopher hole under the tires. Victoria stood at his side, clinging to the railing and looking a little seasick. Nathan stood on the other side of Alex, holding on to the truck and looking like he might vomit. Centaurs do not like trucks.
“Slower!” Ben shouted as he tried to stay on his feet. “Slower, you crazy elf!”
“I thought dwarves were sure-footed,” Eleada yelled out the open window of the cab.
“Mountains,” Ben said. “We’re sure-footed on mountains. Things that don’t move.”
“We’re almost there,” Alex said, feeling a little nauseous himself.
The rain had stopped when they had passed out of the town, although slate-gray clouds still cloaked the sky. Alex looked over his shoulder and saw it was still raining in Runewood.
Beyond the town, farther toward the north, he could see bright white clouds rising up to join the dark, black ones above. Smoke from the fires of the White Forest. Alex wondered how Batami was handling the fire. He hoped she was all right. He wished there were something he could do to help her, but he knew he would have his hands full trying to stop Esmeralda and the evil carnies in the Silent Swamp.
It was obvious that was their destination. Alex had hoped it might be the Dead Forest, but Beowulf’s nose had pointed only in one direction. At least in the Dead Forest, someone could hear you scream.
Alex and the others lurched forward as Eleada brought the truck to sharp stop. Beowulf bounded out of the truck as Nina opened the door and climbed out of the cab. Eleada hopped to the ground and grabbed her bow and quiver of arrows from behind the seat of the truck. She had insisted on taking the time to fetch them before leaving the carnival grounds. Ben had taken the opportunity to grab the small, horned bow he had used in their competitions and a matching quiver. He slung the quiver over his shoulder as he and Eleada strung their bows.
“I thought you said you could drive,” Alex said as he climbed over the railing of the truck bed and lowered himself to the ground.
“I knew I should have flown,” Kendra said, holding her head between her hands.
“You’re here, aren’t you?” Eleada said with a snort. “Wherever here is.”
“The gorping Silent Swamp,” Daphne said, smiling like she had just jumped off a carnival ride.
“Why do they call it the Silent Swamp?” Nathan asked, still steadying himself with the side of the truck.
“Well, because it’s silent,” Clark said, rubbing his forehead as though trying to stop a headache.
“Really, you don’t say,” Eleada said with a frown. “What makes it silent?”
“The fact that there are no sounds in the swamp,” Rafael said, placing a hand on Kendra’s shoulder to steady her. “That’s the silent part.”
“To be more accurate, sound doesn’t travel in the swamp,” Victoria said, sliding the strap of her satchel over her shoulders. “I’ve never been in it myself, but as I’ve heard it explained, there is simply no sound once you are in the swamp.”
“No sounds from animals, you mean,” Kendra asked.
“No sound at all,” Victoria said.
“Victoria’s right,” Nina said. “There’s no sound from animals or trees or water or your footsteps or your voices or anything.”
“Silence,” Ben said. “Total silence.”
“How do we communicate?
” Nathan asked.
“Sign language?” Eleada suggested.
“Thanks to Victoria’s father, we have something better than sign language,” Alex said.
“Mumbling marbles,” Victoria said with a proud smile as she held up her backpack.
It took a few minutes to distribute the mumbling marbles and explain to Eleada, Kendra, and Nathan how they worked. Alex and the rest of the Guild all had their own mumbling marbles, but Victoria had packed spares in her satchel when they left the Guild House. Her father had invented them to allow people to communicate over long distances without sound. He had also given them flavors.
“Sour apple,” Nathan said with a frown as he took his marble from his mouth.
“Sorry, that’s the last one,” Victoria said. Alex could have sworn she smiled when she said it.
“Okay,” Alex said as they all assembled at the edge of the swamp. “Beowulf will lead us in. Rafa and Kendra, could you change into birds and scout ahead?”
“Sure,” Kendra said, beginning to glow and transform into a raven, her clothes morphing to accommodate her new shape.
“You’ll learn to hesitate before volunteering,” Rafael said as he glowed red. He popped his marble into his mouth and transformed into another large black raven. Kendra must have explained how to enchant his clothes, because they too changed shape and clung to his large bird body.
“Everyone, stay close,” Alex said. “Ben and Clark, bring up the rear and watch where we came from. There’s a lot of them and they could be waiting to ambush us. Ready?”
Alex waited a moment for anyone to say something, but when no one did, he bent down to Beowulf and patted the small dog on the head. “Go find ‘em, boy.”
Beowulf gave a low woof and trotted off toward the swamp. Alex didn’t allow himself to hesitate. He had heard too many stories from his father about the dangers of the Silent Swamp. Esmeralda and the evil carnies only added to those dangers. If he had allowed himself to hesitate, he might have thought seriously about turning back. Or at least blowing the whistle around his neck that would call his mother and father to his side. He wanted to blow the whistle, but he wanted to wait until the presence of his parents would really help.
Summer's Cauldron Page 23